Feature – Page 2 – OPEN SHELF

Animal therapy or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the quarantine

From therapy animals to household pets to wildlife, many of us know firsthand the power that animals have to improve our mood and add healthy behaviours to our lives. Especially during a crisis.

Hospital librarianship during the COVID-19 pandemic

I’m still going to work because, while I’m a librarian, my library serves hospital leadership and front-line health workers.

La francisation de Scholars Portal : Progrès vers le bilinguisme, première partie

Scholars Portal est un regroupement de services et d’infrastructures technologiques créés par et pour les bibliothèques universitaires de l’Ontario.

It’s our vote: The 2019 federal election

Our little public library has served as an information center for municipal, provincial and federal elections and this year we ordered welcome resources from Elections Canada.

Buy, borrow, bypass: The current landscape of ebooks in libraries

Famously, the shift to e-reading is where the latest challenge lies for libraries. All of the “Big Five” North American publishers have been testing out strategies to continue to deliver ebook content to libraries without losing money on book sales. Their strategies promise to do nothing more than cause upheaval to the publishing market.

At the centre: A conversation with Nêhiyaw educator Amanda Moosemay

Listen to a conversation between Samantha Martin-Bird and Amanda Moosemay about treaties, community hub libraries and a First Nation school library.

Each day is interesting: Supporting research and innovation at a regional health centre

Kimberley Aslett has no regrets about becoming the lone health librarian in her local hospital. She revels in a job where every day is different because her role is to directly support health research and innovation.

Food for thought and hope for new librarians in a precarious job market

People often think of librarianship as a financially lucrative career, but with many libraries now offering only part-time hours and irregular shifts, it is very possible to become a working-poor librarian.

Introducing OLA’s Advocacy Toolkit

We are working to organize networking and communication opportunities and to make resources related to advocacy available to libraries. To fulfill our mandate, we officially launched the OLA Advocacy Toolkit in May 2019.

Popular cream: Streaming, collections and access for all

Each time communication and media markets shift, changes may not necessarily benefit those of us who ultimately consume the content.

Note to self: Schedule time for self-care

We schedule a lot to do or are scheduled to do a lot. One thing that may be missing from our agendas is self-care.

Librarians on a “Leave for Change”

Leave for Change is a programme that sends volunteers on three-week assignments to developing countries. Juliene McLaughlin tells Wayne Johnston about her first overseas assignment.

Changing times, changing spaces: Reshaping school libraries to align with organizational goals

The Grand Erie District School Board has transformed five school libraries in less than two years, with plans to complete more in the coming school year. We have focused on improving traditional libraries (most are 30 to 40 years old) by developing learning commons spaces.